Kiwis smash world speed record... in a Mini

Following in the footsteps of legendary New Zealander Burt Munro, a team of Kiwis have smashed a world speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and confirmed their car as "the world's fastest Mini''.

They were told they didn't have a hope of even passing the tech inspection - let alone breaking the record - but their do-it-yourself attitude saw their 1964 Mini Cooper S reach an average speed of 235.9km/h.

"We had people telling us that a short car at that sort of speed would spin and all those sorts of things, but it just went beautifully - tracked down the line and had a huge amount of power,'' said Project'64 spokesman Mike Wilson.

To confirm them as the world record-holders, the Mini had to complete the feat twice. They recorded 229km/h on their first run a week ago, and 243km/h on their second on Saturday (NZT).

The previous world land speed record for a production car under 1000cc is 205km/h and the fastest time (unofficially) recorded by a mini was 196km/h.

"One of the famous things that Burt Munro said was that anyone can go out and buy a new bike and go fast, but it's much more interesting and much more of a challenge to take something old and go fast, so that's why we used a 48-year-old Mini,'' said Mr Wilson, the team's photographer.

- APNZ